Rest & Recovery

We always hear about the important health benefits of exercise and the negative side effects of inactivity, but it's not as common we hear about why we also need to allow our bodies some time to rest.

What happens to our bodies when we don't give it the rest it needs?

-Decreased performance

-Fatigue

-Altered hormonal states

-Poor sleeping patterns

-Reproductive disorders

-Decreased immunity

When you workout, it causes microscopic damage to the muscle fibers, and we need periods of rest to allow time for our bodies to repair this damage and prepare out muscles to work even harder during the next workout.

For strength training, ACSM recommendations suggest training each major muscle group two to three days a week and leaving at least 48 hours for recovery between each training session.

Although rest is needed, it is still important to remain somewhat active on your rest and recovery days, AKA active recovery days. Similar to the brain, the body needs stimulation every day. The worst thing you can do for your body on these days is to do nothing at all.

What to do on these active recovery days?

-LIGHT ACTIVITY; such as walking, biking, static and dynamic stretching

-SLEEP IN; nothing helps decrease the strain on your systems like loading up on sleep, aim for at least 8 hours

-EAT THE RAINBOW; A rest day means you’re giving yourself a day off of training—not a day off from your diet. It is critical that you are getting enough macronutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. It is also important that you are also getting enough micronutrients which includes colorful fruits and vegetables.

-DON'T SKIMP ON PROTEIN; your body needs a fully stocked amino acid pool from proteins to help recover from a strenuous workout

-HYDRATE; When you’re properly hydrated, your body is functioning as optimally as possible. That’s one of the best ways to ensure that you get an effective workout and subsequent recovery.